Ghana Inflation Tops Forecast After Food Prices Surge
Ghana’s inflation rate rose more than forecast in July after food, housing and transport prices surged.
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Ghana’s inflation rate rose more than forecast in July after food, housing and transport prices surged.
Consumer inflation quickened to 9% from 7.8% in June, Government Statistician Samuel Kobina Annim told reporters Wednesday in Accra, the capital. The median of five economists’ estimates in a Bloomberg survey was 7.9%. Prices climbed 1.6% in the month.
Non-food prices rose 8.6%, after climbing 8.2% in the prior month, propelled by higher rentals and transport fares. Food inflation accelerated to 9.5%, compared with 7.3% in June.
Despite the acceleration, inflation remains below the 10% upper ceiling of the central bank’s target range since April. That increases the chances of the central bank extending its pause on monetary policy adjustment next month after it held the benchmark interest rate at a more than nine-year low in July to support the economy’s recovery.
An index measuring manufacturing sentiment in Ghana in July signaled a pause in growth in the private sector as inflationary pressures put the brakes on the economic rebound.
The central bank sees inflation remaining within target for the next 18-24 months, the monetary policy committee said after its meeting last month.
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